Hapoel scores an home win against Afula

A lot of water has passed in the river since the previous game between Hapoel and Afula last round. Hapoel came to that match with a particularly lacking lineup, and suffered a stinging loss. Last night (Sunday), exactly four months later, the Reds showed up at Piss Arena as clear favorites - after advancing to the semi-finals of the cup and when they already count three consecutive wins in all formats. This time too, the team did not lick honey against the rival from the north, but at the end of a close game for the most part, they came out with the victory - 78:81, which raised them to fifth place in the table.


Williams and Briggs get the game going

Game process: Hapoel went up in the top five with Speedy Smith, Levia Randolph, Or Cornelius, Oz Blayzer and Jacorey Williams, Afula with Cameron Shelton, Cassius Stanley, Spencer Weiss, Marcellus Arlington and Justin Briggs. Speedy scored the first points of the game, Arlington put the guest on the board on the other hand. Weiss layup and Arlington from the line made it 2:6, Williams returned his own layup but Arlington reached six personal points. Randolph and Briggs exchanged baskets, and Po'al went on a 0:7 run that established a turnaround - 10:13. Weiss and Arlington returned the lead to Afula, but Smith's three-pointer made it 14:16. Stanley scored one from the line, and Nimrod Levy made it 15:19 with a three. Arlington reached double figures already in the first quarter, and a three-pointer by Weiss again established a turnaround - 19:20 for the guest. Yuval Sussman scored two from the line, Avivi finished a patient attack under the basket, Sussman again went to the line but this time scored only one and the first quarter ended with a tie 22:22.



Levi, trying to score over Lutati and Goldenberg

A steal by Zoosman at the beginning of the second quarter led to a layup by Khadin Carrington, Avivi scored a layup on the other side and after a three-pointer by Carrington he added a three-pointer of his own - and after an attack he got another layup on the way to a 27:29 lead. Randolph equalized from the line, Avivi with another three-pointer reached 12 personal points in only five minutes on the floor and Yonatan Alon called a timeout 32:29 behind. Williams made only one of the free throws but an offense later added a layup, but Briggs' own layup brought the margin back to four again. Blazer scored the first points with a three-pointer, but Weiss and Stanley's three-pointers brought the hosts down to another timeout with their biggest deficit of the evening - 42:35. Weiss came back from him with a third three-pointer at 100% from the range that established the first double-digit advantage, and Briggs with one from the line brought it to 35:46. Shelton from the line and Arlington in an outburst completed a 0:14 run, and the first half ended with a 35:50 advantage for Afula.


Avivi against Williams. An excellent second quarter for the Israeli of Afula


Carrington throws over Goldenberg. The hostess struggled

Smith returned from the locker room with a three-pointer, Weiss responded with a layup, but Williams' own layup shortened the score to 52:40. Carrington and Williams reduced the deficit to single digits, Roy Pearl called a timeout, but immediately after that Smith scored another three-pointer that narrowed the gap to only 52:47. Avivi increased for a moment with a layup, Williams, on the other hand, increased his personal score to 16 points and Chris Johnson tried to float for a dunk but was injured in the process and went down to receive treatment. A 3-pointer by Carrington reduced the difference to four, and a basket by Levy made it only 56:54. Weiss reached a new season high of 19 points, Tomer Assig with the first points of the game increased the lead to six, but Randolph's layup made it 60:56. Goldenberg scored one from the line, but Randolph added a basket from half distance - and the quarter, in which the host scored 23 points compared to the opponent's 11, ended with only 58:61 for Afula.

  A dunk by Zoosman reduced the difference to just one point at the beginning of the last quarter, and a three-pointer by Randolph already set a turnaround - 61:63 for Hapoel. Johnson, who recovered from the fall, increased the lead to four - and Roy Pearl called a timeout in an attempt to encourage his players to return to the game. Weiss came back with a fourth three-pointer, but Johnson from the free throw made the score 64:67. Stanley equalized with a basket and a foul, but a 3-pointer by Sussman returned the advantage to the host. Arlington was only accurate on one shot from the line, Stanley's 3-pointer momentarily set up a turnaround - but Carrington immediately answered with his own 3-pointer, 71:73 for the Reds. Afula took another timeout, but Johnson came back from it with a three-pointer that increased the gap to five. Briggs scored twice from the line, a three-pointer by Arlington tied the game 76:76 - but Zoosman with his own three-pointer gave Hapoel a three-point lead with a little over a minute left on the game clock. Neither team managed to score until 6.2 seconds left, when Stanley drew a foul and made two free throws on the way to 79:78. Randolph drew a foul on the other side and with two from two from the line increased the lead to three, Pearl drew a last move - but Weiss' shot attempt went wide, and the game ended with Hapoel winning 78:81.

Scorers for Hapoel: Williams 16 (7-11 from the field, 2-5 from the line, 9 rebounds), Randolph (4-10 from the field, 4-4 from the line) and Carrington (3-8 for threes, 2-5 for twos, 5 assists) 13 each, Zoosman (3-5 from the field, 3-4 from the line, 3 steals) and Smith (3-5 for three, 10 assists) 11 each, Johnson 7 (2-8 from the field), Levi 5 (2-5 from the field), Blayzer 3, Cornelius 2.

Scorers in Afula: Weiss 22 (5-7 for twos, 4-8 for threes), Arlington 16 (10 in the first quarter, 5-11 for twos, 1-5 for threes, 3-6 from the line, 7 rebounds), Stanley (4-14 from the field, 4-5 from the line) and Avibi (10 in the second quarter, 4-6 for twos, 2-3 for threes) 14 KA, Briggs 7 (2-6 from the field, 3-6 from the line, 6 rebounds), Assig (1-4 from the field) And Shelton (0-3 from the field, 11 rebounds) 2 KA, Goldenberg 1. Yes partner: Lutati.